Dear Stakeholders,

Upcoming West of England Line Closure

We are writing to remind stakeholders of the upcoming line closure on the West of England line later this week.

The timings and locations of the line closure is below:

• Saturday 25 November to Sunday 10 December – Salisbury to Yeovil Junction

Around 1280m of track between around Tisbury and Sherborne and 457m of track running through Gillingham station platform one will be replaced and then recycled. Engineers will also be clearing vegetation between Tisbury and Gillingham, completing level crossing maintenance at Wyley and Castleton level crossing and stabilising earthworks by Gillingham tunnel.

As part of the wider programme to improve reliability on the West of England line, Network Rail engineers successfully carried out further track work earlier this month between Yeovil Junction and Axminster.

Engineers worked around the clock, completing key upgrades at four different worksites as part of a wider half a million-pound investment to improve reliability and performance along the West of England line.

The five-day closure involved engineers working at Crewkerne tunnel, where they continued efforts to stabilise the cutting following a landslip in October 2021, as well as install specialist six-metre-long soil nails into the earth just outside the tunnel entrance, alongside new drainage to help reduce the impact of heavy rainfall.

Other work included replacing the barriers at Broom and Axe level crossing, painting Weycroft River Bridge with a protective, anti-corrosion paint, and removing wet beds (areas of waterlogged track stones that cause rough rides for trains) at Crewkerne level crossing.

What do you need to know?

Customers should check before they travel throughout the upcoming line closure. Due to a national shortage of buses, rail replacement buses may not be running as regularly as planned. The latest travel advice from SWR can be found here.

Templecombe station car park may have very restricted or no car parking available due to the need to turn replacement buses. This may apply between 25^th November and 10^th December.

Please check the SWR website before travelling. Customers may wish to use the car park at Gillingham station instead. Car parking availability may also be restricted at Salisbury station at various times due to the space required for turning buses and increased demand.

Please allow sufficient time to use alternative nearby local authority car parks if required. Customers may wish to use alternative station parking facilities at Grateley or Andover.

We will be working with local schools and colleges to ensure that parents and students are aware of the changes to transport arrangements on affected days.

More information about our ongoing investment on the West of England line can be found here www.networkrail.co.uk/West-of-England

Over the past month a marketing campaign has been underway, with posters in stations, digital display information and updates on social media. It would be greatly appreciated if you were to share this information to make the public more aware. 

If you have any questions about this scheme or require assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to get in contact.

Kind regards,

Network Rail Southern Region Stakeholder Team